Well after spending all afternoon with this new Dell XPS 13 9315 I absolutely love it. The fit and finish feels exactly like a Macbook Air.
I have Linux installed (Pop_OS) and the only two issues I had were getting the webcam running and the fingerprint reader. I managed getting both of them up and now the hardware is 100% operable! I am so happy I kept giving Linux a go and found a great laptop with few compatibility issues.
Thanks to all of you who recommended Dell laptops. There were a couple minor problems, but both were solvable with a bit of ddg searching.
EDIT: I've decided to return this Dell XPS 13 based on some of your replies about the 12th gen intel being out of date for the price and build quality issues with Dell in general. I went with a Lemur Pro i7 Raptor Lake, 40gb ram, 1tb storage System76 build for only $200 more. Only downside is I have to wait a bit for them to confirm my order, assemble, and ship. It'll be nice to have a machine built exclusively for Linux!
the xps line is awesome, but I'd like to suggest something to whoever reads this comment: stay away from budget consumer grade dells! (aka inspirons and similar limes)
i got an awesome deal on mine (used) but the build quality is atrocious and it's literally starting to fall apart after like 3 months of use
ik consumer grade crap sucks but dell is the worst offender (...they're not even trying to hide it like hp lol)
I hate to break it to you but it’s not just the budget dells that have build quality issues. I just received a $5k precision that was delivered with fucked up bios settings, non working thunderbolt ports and a trackpad stuck in the down position. I love the laptop but god damn that was frustrating.
I purchased a xps15 a few years ago. It had to go back twice in a year. Once for a fan that died, then again for a fan making bad noise when under load. Stopped using it about 18 months after getting it after the battery stopped working completely out of the blue.